Sushi and tofu

I tried both last night for the first time. Gaby returned from friggin' Spain (craziest stories ever) so a handful of us gathered for sushi to hear stories. Gaby is my food guru and has introduced me to dim sum, indian food, thai food, and now sushi. She knows what to start me with so I actively want to try other stuff. I'm a shy eater, what can I say. So I tried a philadelphia roll which should not be eaten in bites. Bad idea. I bit into it and then ran into trouble. Seaweed does not tear easily. I bit in and had a mouthful of rice and other stuff, and two fingers full of the remaining rice and other stuff, with one bastard of a seaweed strip connecting the two. I tried valiantly to bite through it to no avail. So I had two options: a) shove it all in or b) take it all out. awkward. I went with shove it all in (that's what she said!) and the remaining sushi fell apart all over my hand as I was trying to shove it in. So I wiped my hand off as I chewed and tried to clean my plate as I quietly said "well that went poorly". And then I hear a quiet chuckle and I realize that Erik (Gaby's bf) has been watching me do this the whole time. He doesn't point and laugh though, he just quietly said "ideally the pieces are small enough to eat whole so that doesn't happen". and then he gave me a new smaller piece that worked much better. God bless Erik, that boy is awesome. He has a great heart, and I love how goofy he can be. He would also translate for me during Gaby's stories because I was the only non-spanish speaker there and sometimes she would re-enact dialogue in spanish. (And 2 of the people i was with are not native speakers. they learned in college. so i'm the loser.) i don't like interrupting though so erik would whisper when i looked confused. twas much appreciated.

there was also tofu in my miso soup which i tried. as gaby said "it tastes like what you put it in". it just looks so weird. and feels funny. eh, but i'm not as afraid of it anymore. so that's a step in the right direction. sad face though, i had left my phone in the car and when I came back I had a missed call from KTP :( I was sad to have missed it, but we'll talk soon.